Today, 30 June 2010 is the last day for the public voting for Singapore Blog Awards 2010. I would like to thank everyone who have voted for me for the Best Photography Blog category. A BIG THANK YOU to you all. I know some of you have also voted for me EVERYDAY and some of you have made the extra effort to rally for me, which I am extremely grateful for. Some of you were and are still total strangers to me, but your effort to go the extra mile to rally and vote for me is very heartwarming. To those who have been coming back to read my blog and/or to leave your comments, I thank you too as you have given me stronger motivation to shoot, to blog and to share more.MORE +

What are the family possessions that you treasure the most? It could be many things definitely and different families may have different things that they treasure the most. But have you thought about photographs as one of the most treasured family possessions too? I am sure many of you will say yes, but there could also be many who take it for granted. Will you cry when your $20K watch is stolen? Sure you will, it’s a lot of money. But you may be able to buy the same one again. What about photograph? Have you cried before when your hard disk crashed and you lost 2 year worth of photographs including those taken during one of your most memorable vacations or those taken at your daughter’s first birthday party, your boy’s baptism ceremony, your daughter’s first day at school and your parents’ 25th wedding anniversary?MORE +

I love to photograph at the traditional market wherever I go. That would be one of the locations I have in mind even prior to making the trip. So, next time you are on a trip overseas, don’t forget the traditional market. You will find a lot of subjects for you to photograph. Trust me.

“A snapshot steals life that it cannot return. A long exposure creates a form that never existed.” ~ Dieter Appelt

One of my favorite photography quotes is about long exposure. People can argue whether or not they will call an image taken at a very slow shutter speed (long exposure) as photo or as an art, especially when it creates effect that you will never see in the reality. I will call it a hybrid between photography and art. I guess that’s an easy way out, but it’s true that you can still see element of photography in it and at the same time, you can also see the element of art in it. Unlike a painting. Look at it and you can immediately tell that it’s not a photo.MORE +

Marina Bay, what a place to be in Singapore now. Beautiful location for night photography in Singapore.

It has changed a lot and it has changed for the better since they started a number of constructions around the area which included the new Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino. Yes, the buildings in the above photo are the old ones, but the location where I stood to take the photo is new. It’s a very spacious and beautiful promenade. You can either walk along or sit to enjoy the night view of the bay.MORE +

I traveled to El Nido, Philippines in June 2007 with my family and few other friends. We left Manila early morning and took a small propeller aircraft, I believe it was an 18-seater, that brought us to El Nido, at the northern tip of Palawan island. The hotel where we stayed was another 1 hour wonderful-full-of-blue-sky-and-water journey by boat from the El Nido airport. Full of mid tone color, and you know when you are shooting a scene that is full of mid tone color, you almost can’t get anything wrong. Your camera exposure system will be alright as that’s how they are calibrated. So, just point and shoot, but since you have traveled that far, try to check the LCD monitor once a while to make sure everything is OK. The technology is there to help you. The photos posted here were shot using both my DSLR and point-and-shoot cameras.

Children is one of my favorite subjects. I have mentioned here earlier that I started photoblogging since my daughter was born in 2005. While it’s nice to have children posing for you and looking at the camera, you can also photograph them while they are not. Shoot them while they are playing, laughing, giggling, sleeping, etc. Look for those expressions that you will cherish for many years to come.MORE +

When I was asked to submit my profile photo for the Singapore Blog Awards 2010, I was searching high and low in my archive. I don’t have many photos of me as I am usually the one behind the camera. But I found this one that I like a lot. It was a photo of me shooting in Quiapo, Philippines in 2007, taken by Nathpol, one of my good friends whom I have known for more than 10 years. That was me talking to a little boy in Quiapo. MORE +

I shot these dry rose’s leaves after they have been in my room for few weeks. The leaves had dried and the color had changed to light brown / a bit orange. I bumped up the contrast slightly during post processing to enhance the color. The background was just a plain white fabric and shot with only ambient lighting.

So, next time you have something that you want to throw away, think for a moment if you can shoot it first now or later.

You never know, it may turn out to become an interesting photo. Keep shooting everyone.MORE +

How can I take pictures of strangers while on holiday?

Traveling always opens a world of opportunities for us to see many different things. Different foods, different landscape, different cityscape, different culture and many local peoples. What do you photograph the most? Some will say the cityscape and the landscape. Some will say they photograph the peoples on the street or at the market, shot using wide angle lens to show the street and the market, thus showing the scenes of what they see. But, how about taking portrait of the strangers too? Portrait of the local people we meet while on holiday. How can you do that?

Shooting travel portraits is actually not difficult. No special techniques required even though I will share some technical techniques I usually use in my future posts here. But, the most important aspect about shooting travel portraits is actually non technical. So, without further ado, in no particular order, here are the top 10 tips for shooting travel portraits while you are on holiday:MORE +